


Kismet Tattoo

by mudman



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Happy Ending, M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-10-03 05:46:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10237184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mudman/pseuds/mudman
Summary: A tattoo soulmate AUUpdate: Now with chapter 2!(Note the rating has changed from Teen to Mature)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [King_Ofeara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_Ofeara/gifts).



> A thank you present for my dear Feara <3

Law awoke naturally on this particular morning. It was a welcomed break from his alarm clock which was only set on work days. Not that he really needed an alarm anymore, his body had become so accustomed to his lifestyle.

He went through the motions of his morning routine, only to decide he wasn’t hungry upon making it to the kitchen.

Slender fingers combed through his black hair in an attempt to tame the unruly spikes as he stood in consideration for a moment. All it took was a glimpse at his left wrist to decide he would do what he always did whenever he had time to waste.

He collected his keys from the decorative dish conveniently situated by the front door, and stuffed them into his tight jean pocket. From the dish he also selected his wrist band. He stretched it over his hand before double checking the placement where it hugged onto his tan skin, just like he had done every day of his life.

Exigent curiosity for the black ink of his wrist is what had kept Law toeing the line for all these years. He imagined the day that he wouldn’t have to wear it anymore he would feel naked.

It was similar to a sweatband, except the cotton was much thinner to allow the skin to breathe. They were available in various designs; a once simple accessory had become of huge focus in the marketing world in recent years. Law cringed at all the sucky advertising catchphrases. Currently the latest trend everyone was going mad over was birthstone diamantes, which more often than not were paired with some sappy inspirational quote.

Law’s band was plain black. He didn’t care about the band, he cared about what was hidden beneath.

Everyone had one. A tattoo. It was there when you were born, and it would be there when you died. The left wrist was the default location, but if for some reason that wasn’t an option, it would appear somewhere else on the body.

The tattoo could range from a single word to an entire sentence, and in any given language. Law had even heard cases of people who had raised Braille tattoos. These tattoos were the main reason so many people took up learning a second language, so that they would be able to communicate with their soulmate when they met them.

 _If_ they met them.

Everyone had a soulmate, but finding them was never guaranteed.

Sometimes the fated couple would simply never cross paths. And when one of them would die, the other would watch in despair as their tattoo would turn vivid red, never to know the life they had missed out on experiencing.

Everything about these markings had Law captivated. They didn’t come with any form of instruction, and thus had always been a popular topic of controversy. The tattoos seemed to exist outside the world of science. However one thing that had been proven was that the tattoo was not, in fact, the first thing your soulmate would say to you, but rather it was what they would say at the best time for the couple to get together.

Law was now walking down the footpath to his usual destination, listening to music through his headphones as he went. This made him oblivious to the other noises around him, which normally wouldn’t pose an issue.

However this occasion was different. Law’s ghost practically left his body when a headphone was ripped from his ear, and was replaced by a low sinister voice, so close he could feel their breath on his neck.

“ _You’re getting mugged!_ ” The voice warned. And then _burst into laughter_.

Eustass Kid.

Law immediately recognised the voice, and turned to swing a fist at the idiot standing behind him, only to have it caught before it connected.

“You shat ya dacks!” Kid exclaimed right in Law’s face with that shit eating grin.

Law yanked his wrist free from Kid’s grip. “Ugh! Why are you _like this!?_ ” Law spat out before continuing walking, not bothering to wait for an answer.

“Dunno, maybe because someone tried to drown me when I was little,” Kid said with a sheepish grin, speeding up to keep in toe with Law.

“Yeah, that probably killed off brain cells,” Law agreed without sparing Kid a sideways glance.

“So are you headed to McDonalds?” Kid asked, unfazed by the insult.

“None of your business.”

The redhead smiled at how obvious Law was. He always hung out at this particular fast food chain, even though he never ate anything these, only drank the coffee.

“There’s a cool place I wanna show you. They have good coffee too,” Kid said as he diverted their path, leading them down a small side street.

Law didn’t bother to come up with something to say in resistance; there was something about the way Kid rested his arm around the shorter male’s shoulders that made Law let himself be guided without a fight.

It worked every time. Kid knew it. And Law hated him for it.

The two of them had grown up in the same neighbourhood. They had first met at a birthday party. It was Lammy’s birthday party, to be exact; she had invited all the kids from school who were in the same year as her.

Kid had been nine at the time. Law was twelve. So in other words, old enough to behave better than he did that day. There was just something about the redhead that irritated Law from the moment they locked eyes. But what Law had trouble understanding was he generally avoided people he didn’t like, so why did he constantly have the overwhelming urge to get up in Kid’s face and make his opinion known.

Long story short, the most memorable event of that party for everyone was the two of them dunking each other in the pool with bad intentions. It ended with Law being sent to his room and Kid getting picked up early because all the chlorinated water he swallowed made him sick.

Since then they had always shared a unique relationship that only the two of them could understand. Law refused to acknowledge any sense of friendship, which Kid played along with, but there was no denying that whenever they crossed paths they would spend an unnecessary amount of time together. If anyone pointed this out they would always have a range of lame excuses ready to use.

It wasn’t until some years later before Law began to make sense of his feelings. He was only just shy of his twentieth birthday on the afternoon when he pinned Kid to the mattress. All it took was Kid sliding his hands onto Law’s plump ass and there was no turning back. Law bit the redhead’s lip punishingly, and with the events that followed they both learnt a thing or two about themselves.

It had only been a one-off thing, though. Law ignored Kid for a solid year after that, offering no explanation as to why.

But with time Kid was relieved to find things returned to normal between them. He also learnt pretty quickly that Law would rather pretend that afternoon had never happened. Again, with no explanation.

It was years later now, and they had both matured. One more than the other, however.

They came to a halt outside of a little blue door with a sign that read welcome. This place was a hole in the wall, and inside there was a narrow staircases that seemingly led to nothing. Kid led the way up, and they found themselves in a tiny room that couldn’t seat any more than ten customers.

They looked over the menu which was written on a blackboard up on the wall, and then went to a tiny cluttered counter to order. The girl working greeted Kid by name. He ordered a wagyu beef burger, before stating he would be paying for everything.

 _So you should after scaring me, you asshole_ , Law thought as he moved up to the counter.

“I’ll have a long black.”

“-Penis,” Kid added under his breath only for Law’s ears to hear, voice almost breaking from the effort of not laughing.

“What are you, _twelve?_ ” Law hissed back.

“As in, out of ten?”

Law narrowed his eyes at Kid, suddenly irritated by the way he had to look up at the younger man when they stood side-by-side. “I remember when I was taller than you,” Law said, changing the subject.

“Well I remember on a certain occasion when it didn’t matter who was taller, because we were both horizontal.”

“ _Don’t_ ,” Law warned coldly.

The girl smiled awkwardly as she pretended she couldn’t hear the conversation, busying herself with counting out Kid’s change.

They walked over and sat by the window which looked down into the quiet street.

“So why are you in such a rush to find your soulmate? That’s why you always go to McDonalds right.”

“I never said that,” Law answered slowly. Giving away specific details on your tattoo was considered taboo if you were still at the band wearing stage.

“Yeah, but it’s obvious.”

It was true. The words on Law’s wrist were anti McDonalds. Whenever he imagined possible scenarios they entailed things like someone finding a hair in their fries or spit in their burger. Something along those lines. Always imagining it to take place in the vicinity.

But years had gone by and nothing had happened.

Law convinced himself he didn’t care about the whole ‘soulmate’ ordeal, but rather was acting on mere curiosity.

Kid picked up that Law wasn’t going to give anything away, so made the conversation about himself instead to fill the silence.

“Mine is so damn vague. You know how you hear stories about people who come home and take off their band at the end of the day, only to realise their tattoo has turned white? I bet anything that’s gonna be me.”

“Mine is kind of specific. And stupid,” Law said, talking more to himself than Kid.

At that moment out came Law’s coffee and Kid’s burger. There was no doubt the burger stole the spotlight, the thing was huge, with chunky ingredients as fresh as you could imagine. Most impressive was the beef patty, which looked so juicy it had Law wishing he’d ordered one himself.

“ _This_ is why you don’t go to McDonalds,” Kid declared with a tone of pride in his voice as he picked up the burger and took a monstrous bite.

Law felt the blood rush from his face and his ears burn.

When Kid caught sight of Law, noticing his wide eyes and gaping mouth, he forcibly swallowed his mouthful despite not having finished chewing. “ _What?!_ ” Kid choked out.

Kid’s mind was racing with every passing second Law failed to respond, and there was one conclusion in particular his mind kept jumping to.

“ _Why are you looking at me like that?!_ ” Kid demanded impatiently, refusing to get his hopes up before anything was confirmed.

“Because…” Law began, but finished his answer nonverbally. Kid watched intently, holding his breath as Law’s delicate fingers dipped under the band on his wrist, before sliding it off over a numb hand.

Law laid his arm out on the table, where Kid could view the intricate cursive lettering which spanned his wrist in two lines.

Word for word, italics included, the ink read ‘ _This_ is why you don’t go to McDonalds.’

Kid blinked, completely dumbfounded, and tried to ignore the sound of his own heart racing. As the cogs ticked over in his mind, Kid registered what Law had said, and clawed his own band off so frantically that his painted nails scratched red marks into his pale skin.

‘Because.’

That was it. That was the single word which made up Kid’s tattoo. Naturally the font size was much larger than Law’s in order to fill up the space.

Kid had butterflies in his stomach, and his hand was shaking a little as he rested it on the table in the same fashion as Law.

They both stared silently at one another’s wrist as the ink slowly lightened to grey, before turning completely white. The new ink stood out brilliantly on Law’s tan skin, but became close to invisible on Kid.

Safe to say that afternoon they were comparing stamina and not height.


	2. Chapter 2

**Later that same day…**

Law’s sweat-slicked chest heaved with every sharp inhale, and shook with each staggered exhale. Ecstasy pulsated through his veins as he laid there for the longest time, remembering how to breathe with heavy eyelids and parted lips.

Kid was in much the same state, wrecked with pleasure. Together their sprawled out bodies occupied the majority of Law’s living room floor. Oh, this was definitely something they could get used to.

Kid was the first to move, opting for the more comfortable place on the couch. With his head rested on the cushioned arm he had to bend his legs to fit on the too-short furniture.

Law followed like a moth to a flame. He straddled Kid, their warm clammy bodies emphasising the feel of skin-on-skin.

“Surely you can’t go again,” Kid breathed out, voice and smile delirious, perfect.

“No.” Law offered a smirk, warmer than typical. “I just like having you underneath me.”

“Yeah?” Kid probed, grinning wider. “The view from down here is pretty nice too.” A hand found purchase on Law’s slender hip and thumbed circles over the protruding bone.

“I don’t doubt that,” Law purred, leaning over Kid with half-lidded eyes, full of confidence like he knew damn well the effect he was having on Kid. Cocky bastard. Cocky _beautiful_ bastard.

Law had always imagined that when he met his soulmate ( _if_ he met his soulmate), their first hours together would be dedicated to getting to know one another. Exchanging basic details like ‘what’s your name, where are you from, your job, age, etc.’ But his soulmate was Kid, someone he had known forever.

Of all people, _Eustass fucking Kid_.

Surprisingly, the shock of it all had worn off in almost no time. After that, Law’s feelings of utter thrill consumed all other thought to the degree that he didn’t bother with an outraged façade.

Law smoothed a hand over Kid’s chest, who was beginning to doze off. Memories and emotions from all those years ago rose to the surface. This situation was similar in that Kid was held beneath Law’s weight, and simultaneously _so different_. This time there was no overwhelming guilt that what they were doing was forbidden. No lingering fear that Law was risking becoming attached to someone who could be taken away at a moment’s notice.

Law laid the softest of kisses on the corner of Kid’s lips. _Mine now_.

 

* * *

Some time later Law awoke curled up on top of Kid, butt naked. This was unusual for him, seeing as he didn’t usually nap during the day. He was too comfortable to complain, though. While his backside was cool, his front was warm where it rested on Kid’s furnace of a body. A hand rubbing his back told him Kid was awake too.

Law slowly rose to take in the view. Kid had a nice face, even when he looked kind of dopey after waking. A smile pulled at the corner of Law’s lips. It felt like an entirely different day from when Law had set off for McDonalds in the morning, but in fact it was now four in the afternoon.

Unfortunately the serenity didn’t last.

“I was thinking we could head over to my place to tell my mum the news.”

Law didn’t even fight back the look of utter disgust that came over his face. “No,” he said flatly.

Kid only laughed at Law’s stubborn protest, which only made Law pout harder in return.

Law got up and started collecting his scattered clothing from the floor, because somehow it felt weird being naked while irritated.

“Your mum hates me, Eustass,” Law whined as he popped his head through the t-shirt, which only made his sex hair worse.

“She doesn’t _hate you_ ,” Kid offered as he got up, paused, and then corrected, “She doesn’t hate you _as much as you think._ ”

“Why can’t you tell her over the phone?”

Kid stopped collecting his clothes to hold up his left wrist, flashing his ‘Because’ tattoo along with a stupid grin in answer.

“That’s going to get old very quickly,” Law said dryly, but found some humour in the thought that Kid had probably been waiting years to do that.

“If I tell her over the phone she’ll think it’s a joke,” Kid admitted.

“ _Wishful thinking_ ,” Law muttered.

“We can be there and gone in fifteen minutes.” When Kid detected the slightest pause of consideration from Law he quickly added: “And then I’ll buy you a coffee afterwards. Deal?”

Law pursed his lips while raking through his messy hair. “Coffee _and_ a foot massage.”

Kid sniggered, not having pick Law as a foot massage type of person, but otherwise agreed.

“I’d like to see your mum’s face if I told her you and I fucked each other senseless back when our tattoos were black,” Law said idly, voice smug, talking more to himself that to Kid. _Give her something to really hate me for._

Kid, who had finished putting on the last of his clothing, crossed his arms and frowned with sudden seriousness. “I find it… _interesting_ you don’t mind bringing that topic up now…” Kid began, voice low, “After you spent all those years pretending like it never happened?”

Instant regret flashed over Law’s face. He should have kept his mouth shut, because now Kid had a point and he just wasn’t in the mood to face it.

Kid waited for Law to respond, to at least look him in the eye. Kid opened his mouth, ready to release years of pent up annoyance, but instead snapped it shut again. Something distracted him. For a fleeting second, he saw something. _Felt something_. Darks colours emitted from deep within Law’s chest, and along with them came overwhelming feelings of guilt and sadness that left Kid shook. It was bizarre.

“ _What?_ ” Law finally grumbled, inspecting the front of his shirt for stains because Kid was staring with such a disconcerted expression.

“Ah…nothing,” Kid said, blinking slowly to snap out of it. “Just tired.”

Law looked uncomfortable. A rare sight. The smug doctor was so accustomed to controlling conversations by saying all the right sassy things, so really it came as no surprise that he was at a loss for how to deal with being on the receiving end.

“Guess I’ll be receiving a foot massage too,” Kid added, letting Law off the hook and lightening the mood.

“Yeah,” Law agreed, averting his gaze.

 

* * *

Ten minutes later they found themselves walking to Kid’s place. Kid was laughing for most of the way, thinking about how their tattoos potentially could have been anything spoken this morning. For example Law’s could have been ‘ _Penis’_ or ‘ _You’re getting mugged_ ’.

If Law rolled his eyes one more time they were probably going to fall out of his head. At least this was distracting from how nervous he was. He figured he may as well get this over with while he was already in a bad mood.

 

* * *

It went about as well as Law had been expecting. In other words, _terrible_. Upon opening the door Ms Eustass had managed a half-hearted smile for Kid, but offered Law no such luxury.

Law remained silent while they sat around the kitchen table and Kid broke the news.

“Wh-…b-but _how?_ ” she sputtered, seeming lost for words and paler than usual. The look in her eyes betrayed her efforts to remain calm.

“The tattoos,” Kid answered, playing dumb for Law’s sake, despite it being obvious she was referring to something more along the lines of ‘ _how could it have come to this?_ ’

Law clenched his fist. _Fifteen minutes_ , he reminded himself.

Things went from bad to worse when Kid choked on his drink and, being the idiot he was, thought it was an appropriate time to joke about breathing in water whenever he is around Law. He was the only one who laughed. His mum narrowed her eyes at Law.

“Can you please not _add_ to her hate for me,” Law snapped, not caring he was speaking of Kid’s mother as though she weren’t in the room.

“Sorry,” Kid snickered. He couldn’t help but laugh both at his mum’s agitated face and at how ballsy Law was. He laughed because honestly he didn’t know what else to do or say.

“I’ll wait outside,” Law stated, addressing no one in particular, then promptly left.

Law grit his teeth as he walked to the front door. This was stupid, Kid could have told his mum without Law having to be here. Law was so pissed he actually stepped outside before realising he hadn’t collected his jacket from the hallway.

He re-entered. Faint bickering could be heard coming from the kitchen. Eavesdropping wasn’t usually his style, but this felt personal. He strained his ears to listen closely.

It was difficult to make out what Ms Eustass was saying, she was too quiet, although clearly angry. Kid was louder and easier to hear.

“You don’t have to like him, but you could at least be nice to him.”

Law couldn’t quite make out the response…something about deserving better.

“Well you know _what?_ If these tattoos weren’t a thing and people could actually _choose_ their partner, I’d pick Trafalgar. Would have done so years ago.”

The kitchen fell silent. That was Law’s cue to grab his jacket and get out.

Standing outside he felt shaky waiting for Kid to appear. That was a lot of information to take in at once. That asshole, dropping something like that without warning.

“Hey,” Kid spoke from behind Law as he pulled the door shut.

Kid tried to look Law in the eye to apologise, only for Law to keep turning away because he could feel the way his face was flushed with heat. Kid just figured Law was more upset than he’d realised and put his arm around him to leave, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. “Alright, let’s go get that coffee.”

Law was so distracted by a sudden burst of emotion that he almost fucking tripped over his own feet. It was the desire to care for and protect, not to mention in a staggering magnitude. Law immediately recognised these weren’t his emotions. He stared out the corner of his eye at Kid’s chest.

“What colour?” Kid asked.

“ _What?_ ” Confused, mind not working fast enough.

“What colour did you see?” Kid repeated, eyes wide with intrigue.

“…Pink and yellow?” Law said, further confused by his own answer.

What the hell was happening.

 

* * *

Law slammed his laptop closed. He rubbed his temples before running fingers through greasy hair. By this hour he should have been home, showered and preparing for bed, but he couldn’t get this off his mind. He had spent the past three hours in his office, stressing, reading through any medical or psychological journal article that featured similar symptoms to what he and Kid had been experiencing.

Yet his research had been fruitless. He had actually managed to find one study that perfectly matched his condition, however it was correlational and had only ten participants. Useless. The results had suggested people who were capable of sensing their partner’s emotions all had one thing in common: they had had sex with their soulmate while their tattoos were black, and with no one else. No wonder it had been so challenging to find participants who matched that narrow criteria.

The ability to sense one another’s emotions had started three days ago, only hours after their tattoos had bonded. So sudden. Moreover, it only occurred when they were in close proximity to one another.

But the idea of any of this being related to sex seemed so preposterous to Law. _How_ such a thing was possible was beyond his comprehension. He had never heard of anything like it in all his years as a healthcare professional. Regardless, Kid was the only person Law had ever slept with, and now he was curious to find out if the same was true for Kid.

It seemed to be becoming more powerful with each passing day. At first it came with a flash of colour, too fast to comprehend fully, with the fleeting sense of what the other was feeling. But now it lasted longer, and not only could they sense the emotion, but they also received snippets of information about what _caused_ that emotion.

It had happened last night. Kid had gone quiet, his brow creased deep in thought. Law couldn’t read Kid’s thoughts exactly, but he just _knew_ what was going through his head. Kid had been piecing information together, thinking about how Law’s parents and sister had died five years ago, and wondering if the reason Law had been so eager to find his soulmate was so he could be welcomed into a second family…only to be matched with Kid whose mum didn’t like him.

Law had felt it all so deeply. Somehow it was more painful when it came from someone else’s perspective. Law announced he was fine, startling Kid who hadn’t realised he was being observed. Law had to end that train of thought before it could progress any further.

Law hated this. All of it. It was so invasive. He felt vulnerable, his deepest thoughts and emotions were accessible to somebody else.

Meanwhile Kid was surprisingly fine with their new ability, which only served to bother Law more. How could anybody be _fine_ with this?

Law needed time apart from Kid. Needed time to think without worrying that Kid was in his head.

Maybe their relationship just wasn’t meant to be? The tattoos were never guarantee that people would stay together. Kid’s parents were evidence of that. The whole soulmate ordeal was basically the universe saying ‘ _here you go, here is a person whose soul is compatible with your own_ ’ but at the end of the day you still had to put effort into making it work.

Law doubted he would be able to do this long-term. But then every time he thought back to Kid’s conversation with his mum in the kitchen he felt selfish for wanting to be apart.

Goddammit he wanted Kid, but _not_ like this.

 

* * *

They weren’t together now.

The last time Kid had seen Law was five days ago, but it felt like two weeks. It was taking all his strength to respect Law’s need for space and not show up on the man’s doorstep. He had no idea where their relationship stood as things were, and how they could solve this was beyond Kid.

Kid had sent a couple of text messages that were met with no reply. He checked his phone again, impatient. The screen’s glow revealed only 9:13PM and some random app notification. _Fuck off_ , he thought as he swiped it from the screen, venting his frustration. He stared at the screen until it went black, gritting his teeth.

Being at home sucked. While his mum was being supportive of his shitty moods over these past couple days, he kept picking up on the undertone she was happy that Law might be out of the picture.

Kid had been sitting on the floor leaning back against his bed when without warning he was overcome with emotion. His chest tightened with the shock leaving him momentarily crippled, suffocated. He’d experienced mood swings these past couple of days, but this was too extreme to be written off as that, and had no apparent cause. It felt foreign, yet familiar. It felt like… Law.

Kid’s mind sped up, panicking, wracking his brain for plausible answers. This couldn’t be Law? That didn’t make sense, they could only sense the other’s emotions when they were nearby. And Kid knew, although he wasn’t sure _how_ he knew, that Law was in fact not nearby.

Kid clutched his chest as the sensation intensified. His breathing quickened, although he knew the pain was psychological and not physical. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes. The sadness was consuming, raw pent-up emotion like hot liquid trapped in a pressurised container.

The stronger it become the less doubt clouded Kid’s mind. This emotion, so intense it collapsed in on itself like a black hole, was unmistakably _Law_.

Kid’s eyes widened at the realisation, an unsettling feeling of dread churned squeamishly in his gut. This wasn’t good. His upsurge of panic allowed him to overcome his immobilised state. A second later he was thundering down that stairs, not even pausing to grab a jacket. He shouted that he was going to see Law, voice uneasy, and was out the door before his mum could reply.

Something told him he had to _run_. It told him he should have been there five minutes ago. Aside from his frosty breaths and thudding feet he moved silently along the pavement, guided by the yellow glow of street lights.

Kid’s mind was blank as he ran through the night. He snapped back to reality only when he was at Law’s door, guided there by subconscious memory. He thumped urgently and the door opened immediately.

The first thing Kid noticed was Law’s puffy red eyes. Kid’s eyes watered in reply.

Despite the obvious sign Law had just been crying he still presented himself with a cool, unaffected façade. Kid almost wanted to laugh at what a shitty actor he was.

But instead Kid just stood there, mouth gaping, lost for words to say. He hadn’t really thought about what he would do once he arrived, only knew he had to get here, and fast.

When he did speak everything flowed out at once. He formed incoherent sentences with strings of words, broken by heavy panting as Kid failed to catch his breath. He almost wanted to laugh again, this time at what a pair they made; Law with his tear streaked face and Kid’s asthma-like wheeze.

The first intelligible word that came out was sorry. Kid didn’t know why, he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, but it felt necessary. Law looked equally confused.

Kid lunged forward and wrapped his arms tight around Law, connecting with enough force to have them stumbling back. Law felt smaller than Kid remembered.

Arms slowly wrapped around Kid’s waist as Law relaxed into the embrace. Kid nosed into Law’s hair out of habit. They hugged silently in the doorway, halfway between the two worlds of light and dark.

“I was in for quite the shock,” Law began slowly, mumbling against Kid’s racing heart, “I thought I could have a cry in the privacy of my own home, only to sense you were worried and on your way.”

It suddenly made sense how Law was able to open the door so quickly, and why he hadn’t looked surprised. He’d also made an attempt to dry his tears. He had been waiting.

Kid was about to apologise again, but Law spoke first.

“Thank you, Eustass.”

There was an unspoken understanding: there would be no benefit to them staying apart if they could sense one another from a distance.

Kid pulled Law closer still and nothing could have felt more natural. “I can’t wait to fall in love with you,” Kid murmured into Law’s hair before instantly flushing red, not having intended to say that aloud.

A smile tugged at Law’s lips. “ _Cheesy._ ”

“Yeah,” Kid agreed with a smile, blushing harder.

But Law didn’t doubt those words. Not when the all-consuming warmth and affection that emitted deep from within Kid’s chest revealed he was already half-way there.

Law buried his face against Kid’s shoulder, nuzzling him, hiding a dorky smile and the way his ears burned.

“…Are you wiping your snotty nose on my shirt?”

“…Maybe. Are you gonna take it off if I am?” Law teased, leaning back to smirk in Kid’s face.

Kid laughed and considered that for a moment. “Depends if I’ll be able to keep warm without it,” he said suggestively, the teasing contagious.

“Hm…better keep it on in that case,” Law sneered, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

Kid nipped at his jaw, subtly revelling in all that he could feel from his soulmate. Law’s chest bloomed with both happiness and relief, while his stomach fluttered with nerves and excitement.

Kid planned to love Law so hard he wouldn’t know what hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be the first to say it, this was super cheesy XD  
> Thank you for reading, kudos, and comments <3


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